Appendix VII: Variation of the
Bornless Ritual
Rather than focus on the higher-self imagery that is found in ceremonial magick, I prefer to do a version of the Bornless Ritual (exercise 32) that is an alignment of the selves, or souls, and then an invocation to be fully conscious and connected to all three souls. The Bornless Self is identified most with the higher self, but truly it is the self that embodies all selves, beyond division, shape, and form. Ceremonial aspects have an emphasis on the “higher” realms as being the abode of the Bornless One, but through the reworking of Thelemic and Wiccan poetry with the traditional imagery of the Bornless Ritual, I’ve created something to embody both the Bornless Self and the three selves of shamanic cosmology that I favor.
Temple of Witchcraft Bornless Ritual
1. Create a sacred space through a magick circle ritual, casting a circle and calling the quarters using whatever method is most appropriate for you. You can begin with the LBRP and LBRH.
2. Perform the Great Rite using the blade and chalice.
As the sword is to the grail,
The blade is to the chalice.
As the heavens are to the Earth,
Truth is to love.
Let us drink in the power and blessings of the Lady and Lord conjoined,
And let all paradox be resolved.
For there is no part of me that is not of the gods.
So mote it be.
Drink in the fluid of the chalice, consuming the energies of both Goddess and God, resolving all paradox within you, as you feel the Two Who Move as One in the Love of the Great Spirit move within you.
3. Take a deep breath and hold it for a few moments. Face the heavens and exhale strongly. Feel the life energy of your breath ascend to the heavens and reach your higher self. Feel it descend back again, through your space, aligning your higher, middle, and lower selves, and all of your chakras, making you the perfect conscious vessel for your united souls.
4. Invocation. Recite the following:
I invoke you, O Bornless One, the Mighty Atman, the Augoedes,
All that was, all that is, and all that ever shall be.
You who have no beginning and no end.
You who create the above and the below.
You who create the heavens and the Earth.
You who create the night and the day.
You who create the darkness and the light.
You are myself made perfect that none has ever seen.
You are matter, destroying to create.
You are spirit, creating to destroy.
You produce by seed and root, by stem and bud, by leaf and flower and fruit.
By Light, Life, Love, and Law, you nourish all that lives.
And by Liberty, to free all that was bound and open the gates to all wonder.
For you hold the stars of the heavens and the depths of the abyss.
All lie within your being.
For love’s sake, you were divided.
And for love’s sake, you will be united.
Hear me, for I am yours.
You are myself made perfect.
You are my true self.
I call to the three who are one who are three yet again,
who reside within me, around me, and through me.
I call to the human self, the talker, the namer,
The one who walks on the surface with shining body,
The Uhane, Suld, Thumos, Sa, Ruach, and Emi.
I call to the psychic self, the shaper, the younger,
The one who walks in dreams beneath the world,
The Unihipili, Suns, Epithymia, Ka, Nephesh, and Vivi.
I call to the divine self, the watcher, the deep self,
The winged one who walks with the stars of the heavens,
The Aumakua, Ami, Logos, Ba, Neshamah, and Ori.
I call you forth into alignment, above, below, and center.
For that which is as above, so below, as within, so without.
I am the stars and the dreams and all things in between.
5. Face north, and call to the element you most often associate with the north. Call to the guardians and powers you associate with that element in animal, human, angelic, or deity form. Feel yourself becoming one with the powers of the direction. Feel its powers within you. Feel yourself expand infinitely to the furthest reaches of the outer dark as you recite the sacred words of the Bagahi Rune:
Bagahi laca bachahe — Bah-GAH-hee LAH-ka BAH-khah-hey
Lamac cahi achabahe — Lah-MAHK kah-HEE ah-KHAH-bah-hey
Karrrelyos! — Kah-RREL-yohs!
Lamac lamec bachalyos — La-MAHK lah-MEKH bah-KHAH-lee-ohs
Cabahagi sabalyos — Kah-BAH-hah-gee sah-BAH-lee-ohs
Baryols! — Bah-RREE-oh-lahs!
Lagozatha cabyolas — Lah-goh-zah-THAH kah-BEE-oh-lahs
Samahac et famyolas — Sah-MAH-HAHK EHT fah-MEE-oh-lahs
Harrahya! — Hah-RRAH-hee-yah!
Then say to yourself and the spirits of the north:
O great powers of the universe, hear my words. Make me one with the powers of the north, in harmony and alignment with every spirit, every power, of the north, in the Upper World, Middle World, and Underworld, from here unto the depths of the universe.
Eko, Eko, Aradia! (Or use the name of whatever guardian you associate with the north.)
6. Face east, and call to the element you most often associate with the east. Call to the guardians and powers you associate with that element in animal, human, angelic, or deity form. Feel yourself becoming one with the powers of the direction. Feel its powers within you. Feel yourself expand infinitely to the furthest reaches of the outer dark as you recite the sacred words of the Bagahi Rune (see step 5).
Then say to yourself and the spirits of the east:
O great powers of the universe, hear my words. Make me one with the powers of the east, in harmony and alignment with every spirit, every power, of the east, in the Upper World, Middle World, and Underworld, from here unto the depths of the universe.
Eko, Eko, Azarak! (Or use the name of whatever guardian you associate with the east.)
7. Face south, and call to the element you most often associate with the south. Call to the guardians and powers you associate with that element in animal, human, angelic, or deity form. Feel yourself becoming one with the powers of the direction. Feel its powers within you. Feel yourself expand infinitely to the furthest reaches of the outer dark as you recite the sacred words of the Bagahi Rune.
Then say to yourself and the spirits of the south:
O great powers of the universe, hear my words. Make me one with the powers of the south, in harmony and alignment with every spirit, every power, of the south, in the Upper World, Middle World, and Underworld, from here unto the depths of the universe.
Eko, Eko Zamilak! (Or use the name of whatever guardian you associate with the south.)
8. Face west, and call to the element you most often associate with the west. Call to the guardians and powers you associate with that element in animal, human, angelic, or deity form. Feel yourself becoming one with the powers of the direction. Feel its powers within you. Feel yourself expand infinitely to the furthest reaches of the outer dark as you recite the sacred words of the Bagahi Rune.
Then say to yourself and the spirits of the west:
O great powers of the universe, hear my words. Make me one with the powers of the west, in harmony and alignment with every spirit, every power, of the west, in the Upper World, Middle World, and Underworld, from here unto the depths of the universe.
Eko, Eko, Cernunnos! (Or use the name of whatever guardian you associate with the west.)
9. Stand back in the center. Feel the power of the center aligned with your three selves, above, below, and center, as well as the four directions. Feel your selves come into alignment. Feel yourself become your divine self, in all worlds. Expand your consciousness in all directions, and recite the Bagahi Rune.
Recite the Eko Eko Evocation in its entirety, using the four traditional names of Azarak, Zamilak, Cernunnos, and Aradia, or, if you have been using other names, substitute those names in the appropriate places in the evocation chant.
Eko, Eko, Azarak!
Eko, Eko, Zamilak!
Eko, Eko, Cernunnos!
Eko, Eko, Aradia!
Eko, Eko, (your magickal name)!
I am the Bornless One.
Being of Holy Formless Fire.
I am matter and spirit.
I am flesh and lightning.
I am the stars and dreams and all things in between.
I am the Light, Life, Love, Law, and Liberty.
I am all that was, all that is, and all that ever shall be.
E-O-A-U-I (vowel formula for invoking active pentagram of spirit)
O-E-I-U-A (vowel formula for invoking passive pentagram of spirit)
I-A-O
10. Feel yourself in complete divine alignment. Do your magickal working or simply commune with your divine self.
11. Thank your divine self, knowing that you are not really releasing it, for it is you. Ground yourself back in the physical world by thanking your divine self and focusing on your grounding root. I also recite the vowel formulas for the banishing pentagrams of spirit:
I-U-A-O-E
A-U-I-E-O
12. Release your sacred space in a manner appropriate for the way you created it, releasing the quarters and the circle.
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Online Resource
Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, http://www.etymonline.com.
Interior Illustrations by the Llewellyn Art Department except the following:
page 15 and page 21: Magician and High Priestess cards from the Universal Tarot by Roberto de Angelis © 2000 by Lo Scarabeo and reprinted with permission from Lo Scarabeo.
page 55: Permission to reproduce a passage from page 22 of The Sea Priestess by Dion Fortune kindly given by Red Wheel/Weiser.
page 59: Permission to reproduce the Sangreal Prayer by William Gray kindly given by Robert Hale Ltd. First published in Great Britain by Robert Hale Ltd.
page 70: The Hermetic Universe—Engraving by Matthieu Merian for Johann Daniel Mylius’s Opus Medico-Chymicum, 1618.
page 99: Permission to reproduce the passage from The Chicken Qabalah by Lon Milo DuQuette kindly given by Red Wheel/Weiser.
page 169: The Tree of Life with Its Roots in the Heavens—Plate XXI. Arber Sephirotheca, from Utriusque Cosmi by Robert Fludd, 1621, Vol. II.
page 208: Photo of Chic Cicero’s personal Earth Pentacle is reproduced by permission.
page 505: Back tattoo photograph—Model: Ginella Cann. Photograph by Joyce Cadena Hannon. Tattoo art by Jennifer Moore of Sanctuary Tattoo, Portland, ME.
page 527: Permission to reproduce the Nine Breaths Centering from Celtic Sorcery by Ian Corrigan kindly given by Ian Corrigan.